Biggest news of the week is that our baby girl turned 7.  Her celebrations started a day early with Jeremy meeting her with Costa Vida take-out at school to eat lunch with Robyn.  She was on cloud 9 to have her dad there with her.  And then for recess she gave everyone cups of milk and Trader Joe dunker's for a treat.

Saturday she woke up early waiting for us to bring her breakfast in bed and wake her up by singing Happy Birthday.  She tried to pretend that she wasn't awake and that it was a surprise but we all knew better and her day started off on a good note.  She roamed the house ecstatic that on her birthday she didn't have to do any jobs but watch her pink cake cook.  (I know pink cake - I must have taught her wrong somewhere).

While Allison made Robyn an artist palette cake entirely by herself, Robyn and I left for her birthday outing.  We picked up her cousin Kayla to go to color-me-mine, a paint it yourself ceramic shop.  I had to do some defensive painting on a mug for Robyn as I found myself having to bit my tongue to keep from saying, 'are you sure you want to do that?  why don't you paint this spot over here?' etc.  It was a great way to spend an afternoon.

Then it was back home.  Robyn had planned her family birthday party out all by herself and chose to have Jason's family meet up with us for nachos, strawberries, grapes, cake and ice cream.  Of course with little cousins around the dress up box got raided and she was Alice for the night.

She loved all her presents and is currently working away on a paint by numbers kit.  It has made for the most peaceful Sunday afternoon, I might have to get some more of them!

It is hard to believe that it has been 7 years since she was born.  When she was labeled as failure to thrive after not doing well for the last month of pregnancy and for the first month of life who would have thought she would grow up to be such a bundle of sunshine in our family.  And she makes us smile.  At dinner we say the best and worst of the day she has said every day this week that her best was practicing for Annie.  She even had to practice her whining as she didn't think she could do it well enough.  We all assured her that she was a natural.  Or Monday we went to the church to practice our basketball skills - Robyn and I were relegated to the sidelines never fear.  She was going to give us a thought for FHE afterwards.  She was in tears saying that she doesn't have any thoughts and that she has never had any thoughts.  Or when she pantomimed last night how her new alarm clock will go off in the morning and she will leap out of bed in a happy dance and a whirlwind of getting dressed activity.  I think we will keep her.

Our world can use a little sunshine right now.  We have had non-stop inversion for a few weeks now so everything is gray, frozen and cold.  At least it has warmed up a bit during the day so we get above 10 degrees some days.  Our road is still an ice slick.

Last Sunday Allison was reading Little House in the Big Woods and wanted to try making molasses candy in the snow.  We decided it sounds better than it really is but they had fun trying it out, and Rocky had fun licking up all the remnants they left outside accidentally.

With the cold weather I have been tackling those cleaning projects I kept putting off for someday when I am stuck inside.  The dust bunny refuges that have formed under beds and in closets have been closed down.  It is rather gross looking in places I normally don't go like ceiling fans and bathrooms closets.  But I have found a few lost treasures along the way like the missing pipe snake for our bathroom.

Spencer had a momentous occasion this week when we realized that all these naps and extra meals have helped him grow another 3/4 inch in the last two weeks.  So he is now officially the tallest member of our family and is standing up straight so he can look "down" on Jeremy.

Taylor stayed home Monday from school still not doing good.  But then he perked right up for the rest of the week only to crash again on Saturday.  Seizures aren't horrible this time but he is definitely not happy.  Wish sometimes there was an easy way to diagnosis what is troubling him.  Hopefully he will snap out of it soon.  And I will continue to dream of warm beaches and naps.